Compartment enclosure structure



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 21, 1959 D. L. BUCHANANCOMPARTMEN': ENcLosURE Filed Jan. 5, 1955 David LBLLchcmdm April 2l,1959 D. l.. BUCHANAN COMPARTMENT ENcLosURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan.3, 1955 YUnited States Patent O COMPARTMENT EN CLOSURE STRUCTURE DavidL. Buchanan, Whitemarsh, Pa., assigner to The Budd Company,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of. Pennsylvania Application January 3,1955, Serial'No. 479,548

[12 Claims. (Cl. 10S-314) This invention relates to compartmentenclosure walls and has for an object the provision of improvements inthis art.

In certain elds, such lfor example asr vehicler compartments, `there area number of partitions which separate the compartments and which in manycasesV are very irregular in shape. Forexample, the compartments shownin the copending application yof Goodrich K. Murphy, Serial No. 343,870,tiled March 23, 1953, now Patent 2,808,787, Oct. 8, 1957, have veryirregular partition walls resulting from the provision of high passengercapacity within small cubic space within a car.

The walls of these compartments are formed to provide rounded edges andcorners at all places Where an occupant would be likely to strike, bothfor safety and for attractive appearance.

Such enclosure walls are now made. of steel. This is very difficult andexpensive to fabricate, particularly in smalllots, and there isnot oftenenough quantity demand to justify the great expense which would berequired to.

provide production .dieszof this very large size.

According to the-present invention it. is possible to form plasticpartitions at relativelysmall expense. Once a mold or matrix is formedwith all of the irregularities and rounded corners that are required,-it is easy to make as many units on it as may be desired.

When steel is used the walls between` compartments are commonly made ofone thickness. Partitions thus made allow sounds to pass through easilyunless a design can be worked out to place closets and other hollowappurtenances on the partition wall, and this is almost un feasiblebecause of the very severe space limitations-which prevail withhigh-capacity accommodations.

According to the present invention it is feasible to have doublethickness walls with insulation betweenthicknesses in cost competitionwith. single thickness steel walls even on a quantity production basisand withk little. more thickness than single steel walls.

Smooth interior surfaces are desirable for all compartments. Steelprovides this in either single or double walls but in double walls theinner smooth surface is an unavoidable though unused item of. expense.

According to the present invention the inner surfaces are. rough, thebetter to hold insulation between them and to, aid in dissipating soundthrough the partition.,

Furthermore, steel walls, even when coated thickly with paint, are coldand uncomfortable in allunheated regions andV attimes overly hot inheated regions. The walls provided by thepresent invention are morecomfortable to the touch than steel walls.

Accordingly, vit is anY object of. the invention to provide doubleplastic wallsV capable of easily assuming very irregular shapeswithrounded corners.

Another objectis toprov-ide double thickness walls .with insulationybetween layers.

Another object is to `providecompartment,walls wherein a single partprovides an entire end or partition wall element and part of the side orenclosing wall elements.

- ICC vAnother object is to provide formed plastic walls whichsubstantially completely enclose a compartment and only need securementto the basic structure of the vehicle in order to .form a number ofcomplete compartments.

Another object is to provide vplastic compartment walls which carryvarious appurtenances and iixtures together with Wiring, .piping andother connections sopas tofgreatly reduce the cost of linishing theinterior ,of the compartment'after the Walls have been assembled. v

The-above and other objects and'advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment,reference being made to the'accompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

Fig. l isran interior perspective view of a group of compartments formedby enclosure means of thepresent Vinvention, all appurtenances beingshown installed;

Fig.Y 2 is an interior perspective view similar to Fig. 1 but showingthe compartments without the appurtenances;

Fig. 3 is a. ver-tical longitudinal section taken near the aisle orinner side of the compartments shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a` vertical longitudinal section taken near the windowor-outer side of, thecOmpartmentS; l

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the units forming 'onepartition wall and part of the adjacent longitudinal walls;

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the units forming anotherpartition wall and part of the adjacent longitudinal walls; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of parts showny in broken lines inFig.. 4 to show one method of applying heat and sound insulating andrigidifying material Abetween the spaced walls at a partition.

The-enclosure walls provided by the present invention are adapted to beused in forming ycompartments A and B of a railway sleeping car 10. Thecompartments are separated by longitudinally spaced transversepartitions 25 and 26, each of very irregular shape. The car includes theusual strength structure, as of steel, comprised of floor beams 11, sideWall 12, roof 13, and floor 14. Av longitudinal floorrail plate 15 isprovided where the aisle Wall 16 is later to be located and alongitudinal roof rail 17 is providedabove the rail plate y15 foranchoring the upper end of the aisle wall. Windows 18 and pipes with abase guard 19 can be installed before the present partitions areinstalled. The inside window trim is not installed until later. An aisleceiling 20 having recesses 20a at the upper compartment doors isinstalled later.

Within each compartment there is later installed a folding seat S,atoilet T, a washbasin W, a baggage rack BR,l and folding bed frameparts FB. The seats and bed parts are on the window side and the toiletand basin are on the aisle side. The bed parts of a lower compartment Aare hinged on the partition Walls to swing out and together form afull-length bed at a lower level, and the bed parts of an uppercompar-tment B are hinged on the partition walls to swing` out. and forma full-length bed at an upper level. There will be light xtures andother equipment but it is not necessary to show all such equipmenty toillustrate the principles of the present invention.

`The bed parts require alcoves at each end of a compartment and thesealcoves produce projections or boots in the adjacent compartment space.For example, as shown in Fig. 4, there are bed alcoves BA-l and BA-Z inthe lower compartment or room A and bed alcoves BA-3 and BA-4 intheupper compartment or room B. As showninV Fig. 3, there are otherrecesses andcorresponding projections inthe partition walls, one ofthese being a, baggage alcove BA5 for room B. The correspondingprojections. or boots` will be referred to as P1', P2', P3, P4, P5, etc.It is to be noted that all projections have smooth rounded edges andcorners for good appearance and safety. It is the provision of theseirregular shapes with smooth rounded outlines which makes thefabrication of these parts from sheet metal so expensive. In automobilemanufacture where unit parts are much smaller, of lighter gauge sheet,and made in great numbers, it isfeasible to produce such parts by diestamping presses, but the present situation is dilerent in all theenumerated and other respects.

As shown in Figs. and 6, the enclosure means needed to form theillustrated two compartments in continuous series of groups comprisefour basic parts or forms F-l, F-Z, F-3 and F-4 which include transverseirregular partition wall portions or elements F-la, F-Za, etc. andlongitudinal side wall portions or elements F-lb, F-Zb, etc. Thelongitudinal elements may be said to be similar to a peripheral ilangeformed on the transverse portion. The parts F-l and F4 define much ofthe interior of a lower compartment A while the parts F2 and F-3 definemuch of the interior of an upper compartment B. The transverse portionsa of parts F--l` and F-Z nest together to form the transverse partitionwall 25 between the rear of a compartment A and the front of acompartment B; and the transverse portions of parts F-Z and F-3 nesttogether to form the transverse partition 26 between the rear of acompartment B and the front of a compartment A.

The enclosure forms or shells Fk-1, F-2, F-3 and F-4 are preferably madeof plastic material, such for example as liber glass sheeting and aplastic bonding agent laid up on molds and allowed to harden. Alldesired reinforcements, anchorages, wiring, piping, ttings and the likeare introduced as the material is being laid up on the molds. Theinterior portions of the forms which engage the smooth surfaces of themolds are left smooth, making smooth interior surfaces for thecompartments, and the rear surfaces of the forms are left rough.

The outer portions of the lianges b are sufficiently long to meet oralmost meet in a room, and Where they meet they may be telescoped asshown at bl in Figs. 3 and 4. At the aisle side the ange portions areshorter to leave an opening for a sliding door unit. The cut-outportions for the door units are designated as d. A cut-v out e isprovided for a basin and a` cut-out f provides piping access for thetoilet.

Reinforced ledges g are provided for the baggage rack BR and reinforcedledges h are provided for the iioor 27 of the upper compartments B.Intermediately, if desired, the oor may be supported on the floor beams.

At the bottom the forms are provided with flanges k for supporting theiioor 28 of the lower compartments A. At the outer side a bottom ange mis provided. The lower edges of the forms rest on the car structure atvarious points and the oor 28 is secured to floor supports as well asbeing partly carried by the anges k. g

In assembling, the forms on each side of the aisle are placed insuccession starting from one end; and since the forms are too large topass through the final door, one end of the car is left open suflcientlyto allow the forms to be brought in.

The forms lit in a certain relationship to the windows and body of thecar and have enough latitude to t to provide for accurate location wherethey are fastened.

They are fastened at a number of places, as required. The meetingintermediate joint is covered by a decorative strip 24, as of stainlesssteel, chrome-plated metal, plastic, or the like. This strip, with a gapat the window, reaches from the heater guard, over the ceiling, and downto the top of the aisle door, as shown in Fig. 1. On the aisle side theadjacent nested forms are connected by strips 29.

The adjacent nested portions are spaced apart by a sufficient distanceto take sound and heat insulation 31, as shown especially in Figs. 3 and4. This insulation may be applied as the parts are being assembled ormay be introduced after they have been assembled.

According to the first method, a layer of compressible material, suchfor example as glass wool, is adherently secured to one form or shelland then the other form or shell is pushed up toward the rst to compressthe insulation. The second form or shell is coated with adhesive beforeit is pushed into position to hold the insulation rmly in place.

According to the second method, as shown by Fig. 7, the parts are firstprovided with a peripheral retainer or dam 32 and are assembled andsecured. Then insulation is blown into the confined space throughopenings which are incidentally present. One very successful method isto blow a foaming plastic mixture in by a pressure gun G. This plasticrmly adheres to the inner wall surfaces and is relatively rigid whencured so that it greatly rigidiiies the walls. The outer and aisle wallspaces may likewise be filled with insulating material, if desired.

In any case, the rough texture of the inside faces of the plastic formsaids greatly in retaining the insulation.

As shown at the right of Fig. 1, a step assembly 33, which likewise ismade as a molded plastic unit, is installed for each upper compartmentafter the wall forming units have been installed. It supports the frontedge of the .upper floor 27.

The forms or shells F-l, F-Z, etc. are quite light, but with theirirregular shape and numerous flanges and reinforcements they are veryrigid. When secured to the heavycar structure and insulated they areconsiderably more rigid than single-thickness metal walls would be. Ifin any manner a break should develop at any place in a shell, it is'easy to patch the place with fresh plastic without removing the shell.

It is to be noted that the shells are supported only at fairly widelyspaced points on the car strength structure, hence any car weave, ofwhich there is but little, is allowed to spread for a considerabledistance before reaching another point of rigid attachment which mighthave relative weave with respect to other points of securement, andconsequently the danger of cracking the shells lin service ispractically eliminated. The shells are relatively exible unless bentsharply and are resistant to breakage except for heavy sudden blows overa small area, hence they are not subject to injury by any normal usage.

The forms or shells are generally cup-shaped in that they comprise abottom or base portion, which forms one end or transverse wall of acompartment, and peripheral sides extending in one direction from thebottom and in general parallelism to form the sides of a compartment.The compartment space is thus defined by the smoothsurfaced interiorportions of two facing cup-shaped shells. An adjacent compartment issimilarly formed of two facing cupshaped shells. Intermediately theshells mate back-to-back or bottom-to-bottom, with space. between andwith roughened surfaces to hold insulation, to form the transversepartition Walls. While the shells here shown are of very irregularshape, to illustrate their versatility in forming irregular compartmentspaces, it is to be understood that the principles are equallyapplicable where the compartment shape is more regular.

It is thus seen that the invention provides an improved enclosureconstruction and an improved method of forming it. While one embodimentof the invention has been described by way of illustration, it is to beunderstood that there may be various embodiments and modiications withinthe general scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A compartment enclosure structure of a railway car having a floor,side walls, roof, and center aisle, comprising in combination, twofacing integral open-ended generally cup-shaped shell units formingbetween them a compartment enclosure, each shell unit comprising abottom portion which forms a transverse end wall of the compartmentenclosure and side portions extending in one direction in generalparallelism around the periphery of the bottom portion to form sidewalls for the enclosure,

structural means of the car side wall outside said shell units forsupporting them in assembled position, and means for securing said shallunits to said supporting structural means in position to define thecompartment enclosure between them, at least some of the side portionsof the shell units extending into closely abutting relationship at theiradjacent end edges, and the inner and outer side portions defining adoor and a window respectively between them.

2. A compartment enclosure structure of a railway car having a oor, sidewalls, roof, and center aisle for forming a series of compartments in aline, comprising a plurality of integral open-ended generally cup-shapedshell units each comprising a bottom which forms a transverse end wallof a compartment enclosure and sides extending in general parallelism inone direction around the periphery from said bottom, supportingstructure outside said shells and comprising the car side walls, saidshell units being assembled alternately open-end-to-openend andback-to-back to dene successive compartments and double partition wallstherebetween, and means for securing said shell units as thus assembledto said supporting structure, at least some of the side portions offacing shell units extending into closely abutting relaouter sideportions defining a door and a window respectively between them.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,116,351 Evans Nov. 3, 1914 1,554,180 Trader Sept. 15, 1925 2,200,713Ericson et al May 14, 1940 2,220,482 Fuller Nov. 5, 1940 2,245,318 BlankJune 10, 1941 2,247,893 Sieber July l, 1941 2,287,229 Carpenter June 23,1942 2,551,207 Ensor May l, 1951 2,583,960 Murphy Ian. 29, 19522,590,045 Schilf Mar. 18, 1952 2,698,973 Zeckendorf et a1 J an. 11, 19552,706,313 Radman Apr. 19, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES Reinforced PlasticsConcepts, pp. 112 et seq. of Modern Plastics magazine for March 1952,published by Modern Plastics, Inc., N.Y., N.Y. (Copy in ScientiicLibrary.)

